Gymnastic machine

ABSTRACT

Gymnastic machine having a frame ( 10 ) and an exercise station ( 20 ) provided with at least one footrest ( 30 ) movable with respect to the frame ( 10 ) along a first open trajectory (P 1 ); each footrest ( 30 ) being supported rotatably by a first rocker arm ( 42 ) in turn supported by a second rocker arm ( 44 ) coupled rotatably to the frame ( 10 ); a device ( 50 ) to control rotation of the first rocker arm ( 42 ) being carried on the second rocker arm ( 44 ) to minimise the size of the volumes engaged by movable masses in the exercise station ( 20 ) and around each footrest ( 30 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a machine effectively usable forperforming physical exercises. In particular, the present inventionrelates to a gymnastic machine having at least one pair of footrests forthe repeated performance of alternating movements along an opentrajectory. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnasticmachine provided with at least a pair of footrests for repeatedlyperforming alternating movements along an open trajectory for trainingwith prolonged cyclical exertions of the lower limbs.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the field of gymnastic machines there are well-known skatingsimulators for training of the lower limbs particularly suitable forcardiovascular training sessions.

Some machines of this type are produced in implementation of patentswhose teachings have already been described and discussed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/908,316 filed on May 6, 2005 which isincorporated herein for reference thereto. Furthermore, the teachingsthat can be drawn from this patent application have enabled theconstruction of a machine called “Cardio Wave”, in which a pair offootrests, each of which supported by an arm is hinged to a frame and ismovable along an open trajectory according to a composite movement wheneach arm is moved outward. This composite movement is governed for eacharm by an articulated mechanism, which connects the frame to therespective footrest. The arms of the two footrests are positionedcrossing over each other and therefore have a considerable extensionbut, to avoid coming into reciprocal contact or, even worse, knockingagainst each other during movement, they are shaped asymmetrically.Therefore, both the arms and the relative articulated mechanisms areconstructed in a different manner. This peculiarity makes the bill ofmaterials of the gymnastic machine constructed according to the dictatesof application Ser. No. 10/908,316 particularly intricate and complex,and consequently the machine can only be produced with high productioninvestments, due to the large amount of equipment required by theconsiderable number of pieces of different shapes and dimensions, evenif for identical functions. To limit these problems, the applicant hasvaried the machine concept to make it symmetrical and has described itin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/494,994 filed on Jul. 28, 2006.In this case, the machine is symmetrical and each footrest is supportedby the connecting rod of an articulated quadrilateral, and is movablewith respect to this connecting rod according to the aforesaid compositemovement through a lever carried by the connecting rod.

It must be observed that in the case of the U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/494,994 the pivot axis of the footrest is not positioned on thecentre line of the connecting rod eyes. Therefore, the pivot axes of theconnecting rod and of the footrest on the connecting rod are arranged ina triangle, and the connecting rod, triangular in shape, should beproduced as a box-shaped body in order to present the necessary rigidityand a reasonable weight. Therefore, each footrest must have acorresponding support with a considerable cost and a particularlycompact mechanism in which the respective components frequently overlapone another.

With regard to the description above, both in the case of inventiveconcept pursuant to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/908,316 and inthe case of the inventive concept pursuant to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/494,994 the construction of a protective casing for themechanisms/articulated quadrilaterals supporting the footrests isundoubtedly necessary to avoid serious injuries in the event of the userlosing his/her balance and placing a foot or limb in general in thespace swept by the footrests and/or by the quadrilateral components.Furthermore, the design and production of this casing will beparticularly complex, and will involve a considerable commitment inrelation to the cost for the respective design, production, assembly andmaintenance operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a machine effectively usable forperforming training exercises. In more detail, the present inventionrelates to a gymnastic machine having at least one pair of footrests forthe repeated performance of alternating movements along an opentrajectory. Therefore, this invention can be effectively applied both togymnastic machines aimed principally at muscular development and tomachines suitable for the training with prolonged cyclical exertions ofthe lower limbs.

The object of the present invention is to construct a gymnastic machinethat allows the disadvantages described above to be solved, and which issuitable to satisfy a plurality of requirements that to date have stillnot been addressed, and therefore, suitable to represent a new andoriginal source of economic interest and capable of modifying thecurrent market of skating simulators.

According to the present invention, a gymnastic machine is constructed,whose main characteristics are described in at least one of the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the machine according to thepresent invention will be more apparent from the description below, setforth with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate somenon-limiting examples of embodiment, in which identical or correspondingparts of the machine itself are identified by the same referencenumbers. In particular:

FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic side elevation view of a preferredembodiment of the machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective schematic view of FIG. 1, with parts removed forclarity;

FIG. 3 is a perspective schematic view in an enlarged scale of a portionof FIG. 1, with parts removed for clarity;

FIG. 4 is a view in an enlarged scale of FIG. 3, with parts removed forclarity; and

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates some geometrical details of FIG. 1 intwo different operating positions, with parts removed for clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1, no. 1 indicates a gymnastic machine effectively usable forperforming skating training exercises. This machine 1 comprises a frame10 and an exercise station 20 provided with at least one footrest 30movable with respect to the frame 10 along an open trajectory P1. Eachfootrest 30 is supported rotatably by an articulated mechanism 40, whichcomprises a first rocker arm 42 and a second rocker arm coupled to eachother. The first rocker arm 42 presents a free end 48 supporting arespective footrest 30 and is supported, at the opposite side from thefree end 48 thereof, by a second rocker arm 44, which is rotatablycoupled to the frame 10 by a respective support 12, substantiallycylindrical and provided with a turning pair 14. The machine 1 alsocomprises a device 50 to control relative rotation of the two rockerarms 42 and 44 which is associated with the second rocker arm 44. Thedecision to install this control device 50 on the rocker arm 44 has thepurpose of minimising the size of the volumes engaged by the movingmasses of the station 20, and consequently the two rocker arms 42 and 44and the footrest 30 for each mechanism 40.

In particular, the control device 50 comprises a transmission 52 withparallel axes which, in use, following a rotation imposed on the firstrocker arm 42 caused by outward actuation of the respective footrest 30,is suitable to produce a relative counter-rotation of the first andsecond rocker arms 42 and 44 with respect to each other according to adetermined transmission ratio τ which, owing to the particularconstruction, conditions operation of the articulated mechanism 40. Thistransmission 52 can be mechanical or of any other type. In any case, forsimplicity, it could be constructed as illustrated in FIG. 3 andtherefore comprises a first wheel 54 associated with the second rockerarm 44 and carried fixed by the frame 10 at the level of the pivot axisof said second rocker arm 44; a second wheel 56 carried by the secondrocker arm 44 in a freely rotatable manner and angularly rotatablejointly with the first rocker arm 42; and a belt 58 which is wound in aring on the periphery of the wheels 54 and 56 to mechanically couple thewheels 54 and 56 themselves, and consequently the rocker arms 42 and 44,to control the rotations thereof in a reciprocally opposite direction.As is known, the transmission ratio τ can be calculated as the ratiobetween the diameters of the wheels 56 and 54 in the case of a belt 58suitable to act by friction, or as the ratio between the teeth of thewheel of lesser diameter and the teeth of the wheel of greater diameterknown and not illustrated, or between the teeth of two toothed wheelscoupled directly to each other or coupled remotely through a toothedbelt. In the case of a generic belt 58, in order to make the mechanicalcoupling between the wheels 54 and 56 rigid, a tensioning pulley 59 hasbeen provided, which presents an axis parallel to the axis of the wheels54 and 56 and is carried idle by the second rocker arm 44. In the caseof users with a considerable mass, the wheels 54 and 56, the pulley 59and the belt 58 could be toothed, in order to entirely eliminate therisk of friction and loss of phase between the two rocker arms 42 and44.

With regard to the above description, when in use an outward thrust isexerted on each footrest 30, and therefore indirectly on the firstrocker arm 42, the presence of the transmission 52 imposes acounter-rotation on the first rocker arm 42 with respect to the secondrocker arm 44, with the result that the first rocker arm 42 tends torotate less than the second rocker arm 44 with respect to a rigid bodymotion of the first rocker arm 42 with respect to the second rocker arm44. To better clarify the above description, reference is made to FIG.5, which shows the second rocker arm 44 and the first rocker arm 42 ofthe articulated mechanism 40 in two positions P, idle, and a genericposition P′, unequivocally determined by the determined position takenby the second rocker arm 44, by the value of the transmission ratio τbetween the wheels 56 and 54 and by the initial value of the angle αbetween the first and the second rocker arm 42 and 44 in the idleposition P. In the same FIG. 5, the first rocker arm 42 has also beenillustrated by a dashed line, to represent the position in which saidfirst rocker arm 42 would be located if it were rigidly connected to thesecond rocker arm 44. This situation is without doubt undesirable, asthe user could not perform training correctly. It is clear that thevalue of the angle α between the first and the second rocker arm 42 and44, together with the value of τ condition the position of the end 48 ofthe first rocker arm 42 supporting the footrest 30 with respect to thecircumference that said free end 48 would trace if the first and thesecond rocker arm 42 and 44 were rigidly connected to each other.

Naturally, the machine 1 comprises a load device 60 suitable todissipate power to allow a user to perform a training exercise, as wellas a correct skating movement. For simplicity, a torsion spring 62coaxial with the turning pair 14 has been positioned between the rockerarm 44 and a respective cylindrical support to confer resistance to themovement of the assembly comprising the two rocker arms 42 and 44 and ofthe footrest 30, and therefore promote the muscular development of auser during training.

Naturally, this spring 62 exerts a force that tends to oppose relativerotation of the two rocker arms 42 and 44 triggered by actuation of therelative footrest, and therefore this spring 62 can also be interpretedas a return component, suitable to maintain and re-position said secondrocker arm in a determined starting position when no load is acting onthe respective footrest 30 and therefore on the spring 62 intended asbelonging to the load device 60. Naturally, it is advantageous to numberthe spring considered as belonging to the device 60 and the springintended as return component in the same way, with the same number 62.

Furthermore, it should be specified that this machine 1 can be producedaccording to a constructional method having the step to associate thedevice 50 to control rotation of the first rocker arm 42 with therespective second rocker arm 44 to minimise the size of the volumesengaged by movable masses, and consequently by said rocker arms 42 and44 in the station 20 and around each relative footrest 30.

Finally, it is clear that modifications and variants can be made to themachine 1 described and illustrated herein without however departingfrom the protective scope of the present invention.

It must nonetheless be noted that the machine 1 described above isparticularly interesting from the user safety point of view. In fact,each rocker arm 42 and 44 is supported in a cantilevered fashion, andtherefore it is very simple to provide a casing that encloses theunderlying space to minimise the risk of an user suffering a trauma to alimb caused by lateral striking, and being knocked down by one of thetwo rocker arms 42 and 44, or by a moving footrest 30.

1. A gymnastic machine having a frame (10) and an exercise station (20)provided with at least one footrest (30) movable with respect to saidframe (10) along a first open trajectory (P1); each said footrest (30)being supported by an articulated mechanism (40) having a first rockerarm (42) and a second rocker arm (44) coupled in a rotatable manner toeach other, and with said second rocker arm (44) coupled in a rotatablemanner to said frame (10); characterized by comprising means (50) tocontrol rotation of said first rocker arm (42) suitable to minimise thesize of the volumes engaged by movable masses in said exercise station(20) and around each said footrest (30).
 2. A machine according to claim1, characterised in that said control means (50) comprise a transmission(52) with parallel axes provided with a first wheel (54) associated withsaid second rocker arm (44) and a second wheel (56) associated with saidfirst rocker arm (42); said first and second wheels (54, 56) beingmechanically coupled to each other to cause, in use, counter-rotation ofsaid first and second rocker arm (42, 44) with respect to each otherfollowing actuation of the corresponding said footrest (30) from arespective idle position (P), and consequently rotation of one of twosaid first and second rocker arms (42, 44) with respect to said frame(10).
 3. A machine according to claim 2, characterised in that saidfirst and second wheels (54, 56) are shaped to define a determinedtransmission ratio τ of said articulated mechanism (40), to make, inuse, instant by instant, each position of said first rocker arm (42),and of said footrest (30), conditional to a position taken by saidsecond rocker arm (44).
 4. A machine according to claim 2, characterisedin that said first and second wheels (54, 56) are shaped to define adetermined transmission ratio τ of said articulated mechanism (40), tounivocally associate, in use, instant by instant, each position of saidfirst rocker arm (42) and of said footrest (30) with a determinedposition of said second rocker arm (44), also as a function of an angle(α ) between said first and second rocker arms (42, 44).
 5. A machineaccording to claim 2, characterised in that said transmission (52) withparallel axes extends parallel to said second rocker arm (44).
 6. Amachine according to claim 2, characterised in that said transmission(52) comprises a belt (58) suitable to mechanically couple to each othersaid first and second wheels (54, 56) and said first and second rockerarms (42, 44).
 7. A machine according to claim 2, characterised in thatsaid first wheel (54) is fixed with respect to said frame (10).
 8. Amachine according to claim 7, characterised by comprising means (60) todissipate power suitable to cause resistance to the movement of eachsaid footrest (30) for the purpose of promoting the muscular developmentof a user during training.
 9. A machine according to claim 8,characterised in that said dissipating means (60) comprise a firstelastic component (62) that connects said first rocker arm (44) and saidframe (10) to each other.
 10. A machine according to claim 8,characterised by comprising return means (62) suitable to position saidsecond rocker arm (44) in a determined starting position if there is noload acting on said corresponding footrest (30).
 11. A machine accordingto claim 10, characterised in that said return means (62) comprise asecond elastic component (62) that connects said second rocker arm (44)and said frame (10) to each other.
 12. A machine according to claim 11,characterised in that said first elastic component (62) comprises saidsecond elastic component (62).
 13. A method for constructing a gymnasticmachine having a frame (10) and an exercise station (20) provided withat least one footrest (30) movable with respect to said frame (10) alonga first open trajectory (P1); each said footrest (30) being supported byan articulated mechanism (40) having a first rocker arm (42) and asecond rocker arm (44) coupled in a rotatable manner to each other, andwith said second rocker arm (44) coupled in a rotatable manner to saidframe (10); and means (50) to control rotation of said first rocker arm(42) suitable to minimise the size of the volumes engaged by movablemasses in said exercise station (20) and around each said footrest (30),characterised in that it comprises the step to associate means (50) tocontrol rotation of said first rocker arm (42) with each said secondrocker arm (44) to minimise the size of the volumes engaged by movablemasses (42, 44) around each relative footrest (30).
 14. A trainingmethod on a gymnastic machine having a frame (10) and an exercisestation (20) provided with at least one footrest (30) movable withrespect to said frame (10) along a first open trajectory (P1); each saidfootrest (30) being supported by an articulated mechanism (40) having afirst rocker arm (42) and a second rocker arm (44) coupled in arotatable manner to each other, and with said second rocker arm (44)coupled in a rotatable manner to said frame (10); and means (50) tocontrol rotation of said first rocker arm (42) suitable to minimise thesize of the volumes engaged by movable masses in said exercise station(20) and around each said footrest (30), characterized in that a step toexert an outward thrust on each said footrest (30) is associated with astep to impose on said first rocker arm (42) a counter-rotation withrespect to said second rocker arm (44) to condition, in use, instant byinstant, each position of said first rocker arm (42) and of saidfootrest (30) with respect to a position of said second rocker arm (44)with respect to said frame (10), also as a function of an angle (α)between said first and second rocker arms (42)(44) corresponding to anidle position of said first and second rocker arms (42)(44).
 15. Amethod according to claim 14, characterized in that said first andsecond rocker arms (42)(44) are constrained to each other to rotate withrespect to each other by an angle determined according to a transmissionratio (τ) to condition, in use, instant by instant, each position ofsaid first rocker arm (42) and of said footrest (30) with respect to adetermined position of said second rocker arm (44) with respect to saidframe (10).